Transport Committee on March 23rd, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 26 of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motions adopted by the committee on Thursday, September 18, 2025, and on Thursday, December 11, 2025, the committee is resuming its study of the changing landscape of truck drivers in Canada.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders.

I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of our witnesses and our members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your microphone, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation: floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

I will remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

Colleagues, before I welcome our witnesses for our first panel today, on behalf of all members of this committee I want to take a moment to extend our condolences to the families of the two Air Canada pilots who were tragically killed yesterday in the incident at LaGuardia and also offer our thoughts and prayers to all those who were injured and all those who were affected by that tragic incident.

With us today we have, as an individual, Peter Verleysen. From Canada Post, we have Doug Ettinger, president and chief executive officer; and Alexandre Brisson, chief operating officer.

I'd like to welcome all three of you to our committee today. Thank you in advance for contributing to this very important study.

We're beginning our opening remarks today by turning the floor over to you, Mr. Verleysen. You have five minutes, sir.

[Peter Verleysen, As an Individual]

Thank you very much.

I would like to thank the committee for having me. I would also like to thank Mr. Philip Lawrence for the work he has done for our family.

Before I get into our family details, I want you all to put yourselves in our family's position. Think about how you would have handled this. I want you to see the length of time and the lack of support with our current laws and no hope for justice.

Let me tell you the story of my sister, Gail Verleysen.

On September 10, 2021, Gail went to her job, working on a ranch in Alberta. This was her day job, but, more importantly, it was her passion. Gail was told to go and fix a fence on a nearby ranch. She loaded up a side-by-side and a post pounder to pull behind her vehicle.

She started down the road when a pair of transport trucks came up behind her. The first truck never slowed down or moved over to go around her. This truck impacted Gail's vehicle, causing her death. The second truck, which had a dash camera, was able to slow down and stop prior to reaching the accident scene.

The accused was charged a few months later, and then the mess began that has yet to end as of today. We saw an extreme waste of time by the accused trying to decide whether to plead guilty or not. He used 12 or more court appearances before a preliminary trial was ordered. While the trial did not produce as much information as we had hoped for, we respected the process.

We learned that the accused had the gas pedal to the floor and never let off until one second before impact. At the end of the day, the judge ordered a full trial. He said that he could not understand why anyone would drive directly into a vehicle or object.

We had a trial date set for January 2024. We finally felt like we would get this behind us. We received a notice a few months later that the accused or the defence attorney had another trial and that we would need a new date. We got pushed to January 2025. In early 2025, we received another notice of another delay.

When it was heard by the judge, we learned that the accused had left the country and could not attend court. We learned that the accused was here on a visa and that both the visa and his passport had expired. The accused returned to India in December 2024.

In January 2025, the judge ordered an extradition and a Canada-wide warrant for the accused. To date, we have yet to see the extradition paperwork completed. The accused's attorney said that he would return upon getting a new passport, which would take roughly nine months. He is still not here today. We have had no word of him returning or attempting to work towards ending this case.

I ask this committee to take action on a few things.

Families of victims like ours deserve a faster end to the legal process. We ask you to consider that delays be kept in check to provide victims a faster resolution in the criminal court system. We deserve the right to know how Gail died, which is still sealed from our family. This includes Gail's autopsy.

I ask you to put forward legislation that would take away the accused's passport while charged in order to prevent situations like ours. We ask you to consider new technologies, such as driver-facing cameras, so investigators can learn about an accident faster. We ask for the accused of a major injury or death to be financially responsible in a manageable way. We have learned that both the companies and the drivers rely on insurance companies for any right to a civil claim.

Last, I ask you to take a moment to talk with your colleagues and work with the Department of Justice and the Attorney General and lobby for a major overhaul. The system puts victims last and does nothing to bring closure. Instead, the current system drags victims through what feels like years of a never-ending process.

Our family has no hope left for criminal justice to be served or for even a trial to ever be completed. This should bother every single one of you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Verleysen.

Next, we'll turn the floor over to Mr. Ettinger.

You have five minutes for your opening remarks, sir.

[Doug Ettinger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Post Corporation]

Good morning, Mr. Chair.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Doug Ettinger. I am the president and CEO of Canada Post. My colleague Alexandre Brisson is with me. He is our chief operating officer.

Before getting started, I want to share that we very much appreciate the important work all committee members are doing here to ensure safety for the industry and all Canadians.

As you know, we've shared information with you in advance to help with this study. We're here today to simply help in any way we can.

To be clear right off the top, Canada Post does not engage any contractors under the Driver Inc. model.

Canada Post does not engage any contractors under the Driver Inc. model.

In fact, as you'll hear today, there is no place for the Driver Inc. model at Canada Post, and we fully support any regulatory changes that eliminate the Driver Inc. model right across Canada.

As one of the country's largest purchasers of goods and services, Canada Post has an important responsibility for rigorous procurement controls on our RFPs. We conduct fair, open and transparent procurement, ensuring our supplier activities are conducted with integrity and are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations. All suppliers doing business with Canada Post must comply with our supplier code of conduct as well as with the terms and conditions of their agreements. These agreements clearly state a commitment to legal compliance, safety, integrity and ethical business practices. For example, contractors must ensure that all facilities, equipment and operational practices meet our safety and security standards. They must safeguard mail and property, and maintain insurance, of course. Conditions like these are mandatory for doing business with us.

It's also essential that we actively ensure that our conditions are being met. Our supplier agreements give us the right to audit contractors at any time, with full access to their records, their facilities and their vehicles, and we definitely do that. In addition, to further our efforts, we utilize third party experts who specialize in ongoing validation of suppliers' contract requirements. These reviews look at key requirements, such as WSIB certification, carrier insurance, credit and other information. This approach has grown out of meaningful consultation with leading Canadian corporations in the transportation sector and with Transport Canada, over many years. When there is a violation of a supplier agreement, we are entitled to take appropriate action, including terminating it without further obligation.

As you know, in the transportation sector it is not uncommon for suppliers to engage subcontractors to meet demand and to fulfill service requirements. For Canada Post, the contracting supplier remains fully accountable for meeting all contract requirements and for ensuring that any subcontractors comply with the terms of the agreement and all applicable laws. This includes, but is not limited to, meeting all legal, safety and security requirements and ensuring that their workers receive appropriate training, supervision and screening.

A last point—and it is a very critical one—is that health and safety is our top priority at Canada Post. It's number one of all of the things we do, bar none. It's non-negotiable at Canada Post, and not just for our employees: Any carriers operating on our behalf are expected to prioritize health and safety. In fact, we have a zero-tolerance supplier policy when it comes to serious driver safety violations—one strike and you're out.

When it comes to safety, one strike and you're out.

We expect our suppliers to be thorough in their oversight of subcontractors, with safety as the top priority. We are not aware of any Driver Inc. practices within our network, but we have been following these committee discussions and would invite, of course, any evidence of it. As I said earlier, our processes are robust, and we're always looking to improve them, so if there's an allegation of misconduct that you believe we are not aware of, we will investigate it immediately, as has been our practice.

In conclusion, I can assure you that Canada Post does not engage the Driver Inc. model, and we have a rigorous approach so as to ensure that continues to be the case. We will continue to prioritize driver safety and to ensure responsible and ethical practices throughout the company and with our contracted services.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Ettinger.

We begin our line of questioning today with Mr. Lawrence for six minutes, please.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, we'd like to join you in sending our thoughts and prayers to the victims of the tragic instance at LaGuardia Airport. We send our sincere condolences to the families of the lost, and send our thoughts, prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery to those recovering.

My questions will be for you, Mr. Verleysen. I appreciate the thank you at the beginning of your speech, but I must admit I feel that, as your MP, I've let you down. I feel that multiple governments, both provincial and federal, have let you and your family down. I'd like you to start by telling us a bit about your sister, what type of person she was and what we lost.

[Peter Verleysen]

We lost a 30-year-old who was very community-focused. She led 4-H groups. She led a lot of development in the ranch community as well as with the youth of the community. She was very active in contributing back to society every day. She would work day and night to do that.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Thank you.

We'll move to the accident of that very tragic day just so that people understand. It's your understanding, from what you heard in the court process, that basically the truck driver did not even slow down. It was a transport truck versus a side-by-side.

For those who are not familiar with it, or maybe for those at home, a side-by-side is a little bigger than an ATV. A massive transport truck hit a side-by-side basically without slowing down.

[Peter Verleysen]

That's correct. Yes. She never had a chance in this at all.

There was no need for it. Through the preliminary trial we were able to see the reconstruction somewhat, although not fully. The black box told us that he never let off the gas until one second before impact.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Through the court process—you've highlighted all the multiple delays—you've been able to receive very little information. For example, did you receive anything about the qualifications of the truck driver or any information such as that?

[Peter Verleysen]

None of that information was shared with us. As we got into trial, we hoped to learn about that. We still have yet to.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

This individual then left the country due to a passport being expired. Is that correct?

[Peter Verleysen]

Yes—and his work visa. He was here on a work visa.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

He is now out of the country. The legal process cannot resume until he returns to the country. Is that correct?

[Peter Verleysen]

That's correct.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Have extradition processes begun to bring this gentleman back to Canada to continue the criminal process?

[Peter Verleysen]

We're told that it's begun. It's gone to the RCMP in Ontario. It's been there for probably close to a year, at this point. Quite honestly, we don't understand what could possibly be written in that report, at this point, to take this long.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Have you received any type of assurance that he will be back in six months, or in a year or two years or 10 years from now?

[Peter Verleysen]

He had said through the courts that he would get a new passport and return and that it would take nine months. It's been way longer than nine months. It's been almost a year and a bit and he's still not here.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Wow.

I want to go back to the safety portion so that everyone's aware of the danger that is posed on our roads. After the accident occurred, was his licence immediately suspended? Did he quit driving? Tell me what happened there.

[Peter Verleysen]

No, he continued to drive. In fact, we learned that he did move provinces to a different firm. He was here in Ontario before exiting the country.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Given the loss that your family has endured and that you have felt and will continue to feel for the rest of your lives, do you feel that the court process has let you down?

[Peter Verleysen]

I do 100%. There has been no system that looks at the victim's position. Everything about the accused was put before the victim's position. We have sat without an autopsy and without any real definition of how she died.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

When it comes to the extradition of this gentleman, who I might say is obviously avoiding the criminal process, do you feel as though the immigration system has let you down?

[Peter Verleysen]

Yes. First and foremost, I feel that he shouldn't have been able to board a plane to leave the country. On top of it, what kind of qualifications gave him the ability to do this? Why is he afraid to prove his innocence if he has such qualifications?